Publication:RAN Reading List March 2006/Social and Cultural Material
Contents |
International Communication
Do's and Taboos Around the World
by Roger Axtell published by Wiley, New York, 3rd edn., 1993
So you are about to step ashore in some exotic foreign port, or the guests will shortly be arriving for the official cocktail party. Do you know how to behave so that you won't accidentally cause offence to members of your host nation? This light hearted and entertaining book examines protocol, customs and etiquette around the world. It covers gestures and body language, how to give and receive gifts, why our Western jargon and idioms baffle some cultures, and how to avoid giving offence and being offended. For example, male sailors visiting the Gulf should understand why they should not be offended if an Arab man holds their hand in public. Despite being a little out of date in some customs (such as those related to gestures with the thumb in Australia), it provides valuable advice for those visiting foreign countries or dealing with foreign visitors.
Gestures:The Do's and Taboos of Body Language Around the World
by Roger Axtell published by Wiley, New York, revised edn., 1998
This book builds on the groundwork laid by Axtell's other book, looking specifically at gestures and body language around the world. It explains how a gesture in one culture may have a completely different and offensive meaning in another, and gives tips on how to behave in different countries. It explains why you should never show your shoe sole to a Muslim and why giving the 'OK' sign in Latin cultures could earn you a punch in the face.
Cultural Anthropology and Warfare
War and Society in Europe 1870-1970
by Brian Bond published by Sutton, Stroud, 1998
This survey of warfare in Europe shows how war has exerted an enormous influence on European society since 1870, and how in turn civilian society has played a major role in transforming the nature of armed conflict. Until the recent past, these wars have moulded our perceptions of modern war; however, this period may be seen in greater historical perspective as an extreme variation from the cultural norms of how societies deal with power relationships through violence, conflict and warfare.
Constant Battles: Why We Fight
by Steven LeBlanc, and Katherine E. Register published by St Martin's, New York, 2004
Constant Battles surveys human history in terms of social organisation from hunter gatherers, to tribal agriculturalists, to more complex societies. LeBlanc takes the reader on his own digs around the world from New Guinea, to the South Western US, to Turkey - to show how he has come to discover warfare everywhere at every time. His own fieldwork combined with his archaeological, ethnographic, and historical research, presents a riveting account of how, throughout human history, people always have outgrown the carrying capacity of their environment, which has led to war. Ultimately, though, LeBlanc's point of view is reassuring and optimistic. As he explains the roots of warfare in human history, he also demonstrates that warfare today has far less impact than it did in the past. He also argues that, as awareness of these patterns and the advantages of modern technology increase, so does our ability to avoid war in the future.
Demonic Males: Apes and the Origins of Human Violence
by Dale Peterson and Richard Wrangham published by Mariner Books, Boston, 1997
Whatever their virtues, men are more violent than women. Why do men kill, rape, and wage war, and what can we do about it? Drawing on the latest discoveries about human evolution and about our closest living relatives, the great apes, Demonic Males offers some startling new answers. Dramatic, vivid, and firmly grounded in meticulous research, this book will change the way you see the world. As the San Francisco Chronicle said, it 'dares to dig for the roots of a contentious and complicated subject that makes up much of our daily news.'
War before Civilization
by Lawrence Keeley published by Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1997
For the last 50 years, most popular and scholarly works have agreed that prehistoric warfare was rare, harmless, and unimportant. According to this view, it was little more than a ritualised game, where casualties were limited and the effects of aggression relatively mild. Lawrence Keeley's groundbreaking War before Civilization offers a devastating rebuttal to such comfortable myths and debunks the notion that warfare was introduced to primitive societies through contact with civilisation. Building on much fascinating archaeological and historical research, and offering an astute comparison of warfare in civilised and prehistoric societies, from modern European states to the Plains Indians of North America, Keeley convincingly demonstrates that prehistoric warfare was in fact more deadly, more frequent, and more ruthless than modern war. He cites evidence of ancient massacres in many areas of the world, and surveys the prevalence of looting, destruction, and trophy-taking in all kinds of warfare, again finding little moral distinction between ancient warriors and civilised armies. Finally, and perhaps most controversially, he examines the evidence of cannibalism among some preliterate peoples. But Keeley goes beyond grisly facts to address the larger moral and philosophical issues raised by his work. What are the causes of war? Are human beings inherently violent? How can we ensure peace in our own time? Challenging some of our most dearly held beliefs, Keeley's conclusions are bound to stir controversy.
